


Some Summer Days

by GlowingMechanicalHeart



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: ASOIAF Rare Pair Week, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Conversations, F/M, Reminiscing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-28
Updated: 2019-02-28
Packaged: 2019-11-06 23:48:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17949497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlowingMechanicalHeart/pseuds/GlowingMechanicalHeart
Summary: "How did you know that you loved me? How did you realized that you wanted to marry me?"





	Some Summer Days

**Author's Note:**

> For the ASOIAF RARE PAIR WEEK: Day 5, Day.

"How did you know that you loved me? How did you realized that you wanted to marry me?"

Rhaella's question catches him off guard. He was sitting on his office and hadn't realized that Rhaella had entered until she was sitting in front of him. "How did I knew that I loved you? How did I realized that I wanted to marry you?" He frowned, thinking of which way was best to answer.

"Yes, you parakeet, how did you? Did you one day woke up and decide I was the one? Did you look into my eyes and thought yourself lost? Did liked the way my hair shone in the light? Did you realized you loved me after talking to me? Did you like how I sing? Did you liked that I care? What was it?" Rhaella tilted her head and arched an eyebrow.

He was silent for a few moments, "Well, I say that I liked that you were smart and beautiful, those were the things that attracted me to you. But then I started to talk to you, and your light shone so brightly that I knew I wanted to be with or around you all the time."

Rhaella frowned, "I sense a 'but' coming..."

"Yes, there is a 'but' coming and here it is: but that's not how I realized that I loved you and wanted to marry you." He said.

"Oh? Do tell!" A smile bloomed in her face.

"Well, it all started during the second summer after we started dating. I realized it in the course of several days if I must be honest." He took a deep breath, "The first was when I realized how much time you spent doing stuff for the elderly and children. You would drive all over the city delivering meals to those who could not leave the house, sparing a few moments to talk to them. Some other days you'd would go to retirement homes with your keyboard and sing old songs for them, hell, you still do that!" It was true, his wife was someone who cared for other people.

He took a gulp of the glass of water he luckily had on hand. "You would spent hours of your days singing for those elderly people, talking to them. You'd take them food items sometimes too. I mean, I knew that you worked with people when we started dating, but I didn't know well how deep your dedication went. I admired and still do that about you."

He gave her a smile, "And well, there's the work with the children. You started to organize food for those children who were less fortunate. You started giving packages of food for those kids whose parents were not able to put food on the table and you did not want children to be hungry during off school days. And look at your charity now, you still run it. You'd volunteer to help kids who were struggling to read."

Another gulp of water, looking at his wife as he drinks. She is sitting in silence, waiting for whatever else comes next. "You care Rhaella, and I love that about you."

"My charity would still be nothing without your support. You always said I could do it." She answered.

"Yes, I encouraged you. But don't sell yourself short Rhaella, you did the heavy lifting for it. You, Joanna and Loreza. The three of you do amazing work. Our children are lucky to have a mother who cares."

He saw a faint blush on his wife's cheeks and he grinned at her. After all these years and Rhaella still was the adorable woman he fell in love with all those years ago.

"Are there more reasons?" Rhaella spoke, he was sure that curiosity had gotten the better of her.

"Of course there are. I will admit that this is perhaps shallow, but I have never been one to deny it, you were - and are - the most beautiful woman that I have ever seen. I have always felt very lucky were you are on my arm. But specially back then when we were younger, I was not terrible to look at, but I was not the handsomest either. And yet, you saw something in me and it made me love you." He felt his cheeks warm and prayed that his blush wasn't noticeable.

He looked at her, but she said nothing, only arched one of her eyebrows. He continued then, "But I also realized how smart you were. You tutored math, you were in the debate and chess team, you could memorize poems and do theater without breaking a sweat. You were always good in classes, your grades were always the best because you studied. You worked hard for those, and if you failed, you never threw a tantrum, you just simply gathered yourself and tried again. That is another reason why I knew that I loved you."

"Well, I'm glad that you noticed that!" Rhaella spoke, her previous serious expression leaving her. "I'm glad to know that you saw those things and not dismissed me as a simple empty headed heiress. Many did."

"Many were idiots. Also, you are so brave and so strong. There is a quiet bravery about you, remember when that idiot tried to grope your butt and called you princess? You stopped his hand and coldly told him that if he ever tried again, you'd use your 'royal status' and chop his hand off. And no offence Rhaella, but you are like two feet tall and you stood tall, proud and held your ground."

Rhaella snorted. "Yes, that idiot pissed me off."

"Yes," his voice softened, "And there it was when your dad got sick. You were always at the hospital with your mother, doing whatever you could to help them. You set aside your fears and were strong for them. And even when he passed, you cried, you got angry, you had nightmares for days. And yet, you would always take a deep breath, lift your chin and kept going."

Rhaella looked away then, her father's passing never failed to bring tears to her eyes. He saw her blink back some. And reached over his desk to hold her hand and squeezed, she closed her eyes and squeezed back. He gave her a moment to compose herself.

"You wanna know when it fully hit me?"

"Do tell," Rhaella's voice was soft. "I am all ears."

"It was August 10th, we spent all day together. First we had a nice brunch, pancakes and mimosas remember?" At her nod, he continued, "Then we went to the mall, the bookstore in particular. We spent hours there, looking for books to buy, you got two poetry books that day."

Rhaella gave him a smile, "I'm surprised that you remember what I bought."

"Ah, I could never forget that day. After all, it was the day that changed my life forever."

"Oh you sap," Rhaella's singsonged. "But I love you. Then what? Impress me with your memory of that day."

He grinned, "Then we went to the carnival. We were walking around having fun, you would laugh, so freely and joyfully that I wanted to hear you laugh every day. You won a purple dragon in a game. Made me get on every ride with you while holding my hand. You had some fried chocolate bar and declared it an abomination. And you looked so lovely, you were wearing a lavender dress and flats, your hair was completely free and it was shinning under the setting sun and I remember thinking: 'Rickard, you're one lucky bastard.'"

Rhaella's smile had grown, her head tilted a bit.

"And then, we went to the movies. You insisted on seeing that awful horror movie, miss Yes-Rickard-I-can-handle-horror; but you couldn't. You were holding onto my arm so hard you left nail impressions on my it and then, during a jump scare, you dumped your iced soda on my lap."

Rhaella laughed at that and so did he. "I can't believe you didn't dumped me on the spot! I was dying inside of sheer embarrassment for that."

"Well, accidents happen, it was just soda." He shrugged, "But then I took you home. And we were standing in front of your house saying goodbye, I hugged you. And as I held you in my arms and smelled your perfume, I realized that I didn't want to let go. I realized that I loved you with all my heart and I wanted to hold you in my arms forever. And then I kissed you goodnight and went home knowing what I had to do."

Rhaella's eyes were full of love when she spoke, "What did you do?"

"The next morning I called my parents, said that I was planning to propose to you. Mother was thrilled, she loves you and she was afraid that we would split. Dad wished me good luck on the proposal. Then, next monday, I started going to jewelry stores who did custom rings."

Rhaella lifted her hand to look at her engagement ring, a purple oval sapphire flanked by two smaller heart shaped diamonds set in a white gold band, and smiled. "I love my ring, it's very unique and feels right for me."

"Well, I'm glad you still like it. It took a while for the ring to be completed, because of the color of the sapphire. And then there was the matter of actually proposing, didn't know what to do." He cringed at the memory. He had asked all of his friends for ideas, eventually discarding all of them.

"I still maintain that asking me to marry you in the botanical gardens was very sweet and romantic. I was just so happy, I felt fit to burst out of joy. But I also felt terrible because I started to cry and I could not answer and I could see that you were panicking, so I just threw myself at you." Rhaella's voice was full of laughter.

"I was so relieved when you did. For a moment there I was ready cry myself." He joked. His usually stern features softened when looking at her. "Does that answer your questions dearest?"

"Yes, yes it does." Rhaella spoke firmly. "I'm glad to have met you and I'm glad to have married you. You and our children bring me so much joy." She stood up, "But now that my curiosity has been satisfied, I'll leave you to your work. Don't stay up too late."

"I won't." He replied and watched her made her way to the door. "Rhaella?"

"Yes?" Rhaella stopped at the threshold and looked at him.

"I love you She-Dragon."

His wife smiled at him, "I love you too silly Wolf."

Once she had left and closed the door, he closed his eyes, funny how some sunny summer days changed his life forever and for the better.


End file.
